Midnight Hour
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: Anxiety and sleeplessness may eventually cause problems like sleepwalking…and it appears that it's struck Sofia now. Two-shot: one sleepwalking journey to Cedric and another to Baileywick. *For Sofia2015* (Thanks to those who let me know I'd reached 100 stories! I had no clue! lol Here's to 100 more... Thanks for all your support!)
1. Across the Cobblestone

Midnight Hour

Summary: Anxiety and sleeplessness may eventually cause problems like sleepwalking…and it appears that it's struck Sofia now. Two-shot: one sleepwalking journey to Cedric and another to Baileywick. *For Sofia2015*

Disclaimer: I don't own "Sofia the First."

A/N: Sofia2015 asked me to write a story about sleepwalking, so I complied. My mom actually used to sleepwalk when she was a child. These days when we go on family vacations, she doesn't really sleepwalk anymore, but both she and my sister sleep TALK. Oh, my gosh, it's a wonder I get any sleep _at all_. Lol. Here's a conversation my mom attempted to have with me while she was asleep last week: "Go look and see if the chicken's been cooked." What?! Haha. But my absolute favorite "sleepy mom" episode was years ago. She had been woken up while we were on a trip, and she freaked out. She then saw the glow-in-the-dark remote control and kept asking why it looked the way it did and if it was possessed… lol. Never a dull moment in my family. ;)

Chapter 1: Across the Cobblestone

Sofia crawled into her bed rather late one night. She had been up studying for a test that she was to have at the end of the week. She and the other students were warned that it would not be easy and that they needed to focus and give it their best. Naturally, she'd taken their words to heart and committed herself to studying as much as she could.

The main problem with this was that she was already exhausted. With recent uncertain troubles with her amulet, which Cedric was going to help her work on soon enough, she'd lost more sleep than she cared to admit. However, this test added on top of everything else seemed a bit excessive, and anxiety kicked in, unfortunately.

The girl lay in her bed, her covers drawn to her chin, as she stared up at the top of her canopy bed. Her eyes stung with tiredness, but she couldn't force herself to sleep for some reason. She sighed and started counting backwards from 523 (a random number, but still) and made it to 418 before yawning and sighing. She then closed her eyes and turned sideways, curling up and falling asleep at last.

About an hour later, close to midnight, Sofia opened her eyes. However, they were unfocused and hazy, as if she weren't awake at all. She pushed the covers aside and slid to the ground, her hands held slightly in front of her as she made her way through the darkness toward her bedroom door. She opened the door and eased into the hallway.

Her journey led her through many sections of the castle before she finally made her way up familiar stairs, her bare feet traipsing across the cobblestone before she ascended.

Meanwhile, Cedric was far from sleeping at this point. He and Wormwood were very busy at the moment.

"Do you have any aces?" Cedric asked his companion while smirking.

Wormwood glared at his master before sighing and tossing two cards to him. He grumbled under his breath about the unfairness of it all.

"No one likes a sore loser, Wormy." He grinned before hearing a thump at his door. He frowned as he turned in that direction. "What was that?"

Wormwood cawed before flying up to his perch, striking a defensive pose.

"Oh, calm down, Wormy. It's probably just the wind." He stood from his stool and walked over to the door, settling his hand over the handle and twisting. "See?" Cedric yelped as a very unawake Sofia bumped into him, thus ending her journey. "Sofia? What are you doing here at this hour?" He frowned when she just stood there, not saying anything. He knelt down to her level and looked her in the eyes—so to speak—and saw how completely unfocused she was. "Wormy…I believe the princess is sleepwalking."

"Fantastic," the raven drawled with an eye roll. "Just what we need. It was bad enough when _you_ used to do it."

"Sofia?" Cedric asked gently, waving a hand in front of her face. He knew it was best not to startle those who were in this state into alertness, because it could have pretty disastrous results. However, he needed to get her safely back to bed, before they both got in trouble. "Sofia."

"H-Huh?" Sofia finally blinked, her eyes less hazy and starting to clear up, as she stared at her friend in front of her. "Mr. Cedric?" She raised a hand to her mouth and yawned. "Did you move your workshop to my room?"

He laughed. "Of course not. Are you awake?"

"Half and so and so…" She shook her head, finally coming to terms with what was going on. "What am I doing here?"

"I believe you were sleepwalking, my dear." He stood as she blinked in confusion.

"Sleepwalking? Mr. Cedric, I don't sleepwalk…"

"Then how did you _get_ here?" Wormwood asked pointedly, smirking.

"I…" She sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry, Mr. Cedric. I guess I'm just exhausted."

He chuckled. "I'll say. The best thing for you is going to be a break. Just a few more weeks, and you'll be able to rest much better."

"If I make it that long," she lamented, rubbing her forehead.

Cedric took her hand, surprising her. "Come on. I'll walk you back to your room." He ignored the look of annoyance on Wormwood's face (supposedly the raven wasn't thrilled about being interrupted during their game and so late at night) and led Sofia down the stairs.

"This is because of my amulet, isn't it?" Sofia asked tiredly as she clutched his hand tighter yet kept her other tracing the stone walls as they finally made it to the ground floor.

"It may be a part of it, but you also have school stress on top of regular royal stress, I'm sure. What you need, Sofia, is a balance. We just need to figure out what that is." He stopped them once they reached her room.

"_We_?" She looked at him happily. "You really want to help me, don't you, Mr. Cedric?"

"Of course! I can't have you falling asleep in the middle of a lesson…again." He smiled as she laughed. "Now, get some rest and try not to stress, all right?"

Sofia smiled as she hugged him. "Easier said than done, Mr. Cedric…" She sighed and bid him good night as he left before walking into her room and closing the door. She yawned and crawled into bed again, hitting the pillow the instant she lay down.

To be continued…

A/N: Look for chapter 2 tomorrow…after I get taxes done. *shudder* lol My last day of freedom before returning to the "real world." Yay. Haha! ~AquaTurquoise

**At First Sight Reviews**

CedricAmber: Glad you liked the final chapter. :) Aw, hope you continue feeling better, and I love Reina's nickname for Niles too. :P I got that from "Frasier." :D Aw, no PATF. Ah, well. Yay for a cookbook and coloring book! Ooh, yay! Coloring Cedric is fun. :p "Hostage" it is… I'll get to work on it soon enough. And you're telling me. We've got to work on getting you people accounts. Haha. And any curse on Jade is fine with me—I should stop. I'm setting a bad example. Hehe

theblindwriter95: I'm so glad you liked it. Yay, more Penny! Loved every minute of this story.

Luiz4200: Thank you!

Royal Detective: Yep, it was fun. I remember the days we went Easter dress shopping. My Nana would get my sister and me one each year. Very fun. These days, you couldn't wrestle me into a dress. ;D I'm a rebel. Lol. And you woke up at 4:30? Aw, man. Yeah, I almost changed my mind and put James in, but I figured he was probably busy watching out for Vivian and making sure she didn't fall down the stairs or something. :P Plus I never use Hugo, so there it is. Haha.

**Zealous Reviews**

theblindwriter95: Thank you! :)

Sofia2015: Yeah, I understand. Thank you.

LongLiveNiNoKuni: Good grief… :p I don't know which one of yours to answer first. Um, thanks! I also didn't realize I'd reached 100 stories… YAY! Thanks for letting me know. And as far as the story idea… Eh, I'm going to be honest. I would be probably the WORST person to write that kind of story. First of all, I'd want to beat the crud out of the Jerkface who dared to hurt our Sofia, and I'd get upset about it. Lol. I'll see if I can find someone else who'd like a challenge. If not, maybe that can be a queued story for you. ;) And I consider you a "young adult," so there ya go. :)

TheOliviaOcti: Hi, friend! Thanks so much for the review. :) Yeah, I ALMOST wrote in a birthday hat, because it's something agentgiggles27 and I used to do as a running gag. Since I never see her around anymore, it kind of fell by the wayside. Ah, well. Maybe I'll bring it back. Haha. And yeah, Cedric's just a big old softy anyway, and he knows it. ;)

CedricAmber: You read the story with zeal? Awesome! Lol You too for the outfit, huh? I need to step up my game. :D But thank you, and I'm glad you liked the gift. Wormy and Cedric have short attention spans sometimes, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did forget their birthdays. And I remember reading that story you're talking about. And I'm pretty sure that was our dear friend Royal Detective's story. :) I seem to recall the line, "Why didn't you tell me it was my birthday?" Oh, Cedric… Haha. Hope your Easter was great! I recorded a song (which I uploaded for church, lol), hid Easter eggs, played with miniature pugs (SO FREAKING CUTE!), and hung out with family. Good times. :D I'm thinking about recording another song and altering it a bit… Ever heard of "The Wizard and I" from "Wicked?" :D I may be able to mess that up enough to make it a friendship song for Cedric/Sofia. Who knows? Hehe

Natalie Nightray: Haha, thanks, girl! Love you too! Gracias otra vez! ;)

Royal Detective: I agree with you. Cedric would be lost without Wormwood! :)

Guest: Thanks for pointing it out. I completely overlooked the 100th story. :) I appreciate your letting me know.


	2. At Your Service

Midnight Hour

Summary: Anxiety and sleeplessness may eventually cause problems like sleepwalking…and it appears that it's struck Sofia now. Two-shot: one sleepwalking journey to Cedric and another to Baileywick. *For Sofia2015*

Disclaimer: I don't own "Sofia the First."

A/N: First of all, I apologize it's taken me so long to get to the Midnight Hour story. Clearly, my taxes have been done for quite some time! Haha. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to stick with my original plan of a two-shot. Sofia has visited Cedric, and now it's Baileywick's turn. Sofia2015, I know you wanted me to do all the other family members, but I'm literally out of ideas for this scenario. I would, however, like to offer the opportunity for anyone else to take up the challenge of writing more chapters for this story. If you feel up to it, then by all means, go right ahead and make it your own story! :) I'll be focusing on one particular multi-chapter story next, and it's gotten _very_ busy for me in real life, so sorry about that.

Chapter 2: At Your Service

The next night was much the same as before. Sofia had stayed awake studying for that oh-so-important test, and she barely recognized the hour. All she knew was that night had waxed tremendously, and her eyes had grown weary and burned in a yearning for much-needed rest.

She sighed and placed her books into her school bag before settling into her covers. She felt the cool pillow behind her, soothing her tired mind as she rested her head upon it. She winced at the stinging sensation her eyes still held. If she didn't get sleep soon, it would probably be a horrible day the next day.

A few hours into the night, probably close to 2:00 AM, the princess sat up once more and discarded the bed's covers. She attempted to slide to the floor as she had done the previous night, but her foot was caught in one of the sheets. She tugged it halfheartedly before she was finally free and made her way through her bedroom door toward the hallway.

Sofia's glazed eyes stared straight ahead, none of the familiar surroundings registering within her mind. She soon found herself in another area of the castle that she hadn't thought to venture before: the steward's quarters.

Baileywick was actually awake, sitting at his desk and writing down some notes for the following day. He had actually taken a small nap for a few hours before awaking, his mind filled with all of his responsibilities and new ideas. He didn't so much mind getting his thoughts down on parchment, but it was a bit of a nuisance when he was so exhausted.

All day every day, he was expected to work. Of course, he wouldn't have it any other way. He lived to serve, and it had been that way for generations. He didn't know much else, but he knew how much he was appreciated. That thought alone brought a smile to his face.

He gasped when he heard a small thud outside his door, so he stood to investigate. He reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it, holding up a lit lantern to see well. He frowned in confusion upon seeing Sofia standing before his door. "Princess Sofia?"

The princess was unresponsive, and Baileywick was about to go into pure panic mode, but he then realized that she was…sort of awake, but not really. Oh, he'd heard about this. In fact, once when they were little, the twins had experienced something like this. James had ended up eating an entire batch of cookies and sleeping in the stables, while Amber had redecorated the entire left side of the ballroom in green and pink streamers instead of purple and blue. Therefore, he knew the strange and sometimes humorous effects of sleepwalking.

He knelt to the girl and waved a hand in front of her face, seeing no response. "Oh, dear…"

"Must…study," Sofia mumbled quietly as she reached out toward Baileywick, hugging him. "Hi, Dad. Can't…talk. Must study."

The steward paused in confusion. "Dad?" He realized she wasn't aware of what was truly going on, so he gently patted her back to get her attention, if at all possible. "Sofia, dear, please wake up."

Sofia giggled distantly as she pulled away from her friend. "Dad, you sound—you sound like Baileywick." She smiled thoughtfully, her eyes still hazy. "Baileywick's a nice person, Dad. You should give him more…cookies."

Baileywick chuckled at her statement and shook his head. "Um… I'll see to it immediately, Prin—I mean, Sofia." Pretending to be her father wouldn't hurt in this one case, but hopefully no one else would find out about it. How embarrassing would _that_ be?

The princess gasped when she tripped over a run in the carpet, and she groaned in discomfort as she hit the ground.

"Sofia!" The steward reached toward her, pulling her to her feet and checking for any bruises. "Dear girl, are you all right?"

"Huh?" Sofia blinked, her eyes focusing as she settled her gaze on the castle steward. "Baileywick? Where am I?" She looked around and bit her lip. "Oh, no, I did it again…"

"You've been sleepwalking before, I take it?"

She nodded. "I was sleepwalking last night and Mr. Cedric found me before walking me back to my bedroom." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Baileywick. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Nonsense, Princess. It's my duty to look after you at all times, day or night." He smiled. "Now, may I escort you to your room? I don't even know if you know where you are right now."

Sofia blinked at him before nodding and giggling. "I really have no clue… Thanks, Baileywick. You're the best."

"So I heard," he joked lightly as he began leading her down a hallway. "As you were sleepwalking, you indicated that I should have more cookies."

The princess then settled into pure laughter, though she tried to keep it as quiet as possible, considering the time. "So my subconscious wants to make sure you eat more cookies. I guess you can't argue with that, Baileywick!"

"True!" He smiled as they finally arrived at her room. "May I make a suggestion?"

"I'll listen to anything at this point," she said sincerely.

"Try drinking something warm before you go to sleep each night. It settles you down. And, while I admire your dedication to your studies, come up with a cut-off time. Even the smartest people in the world get in their hours of sleep, and if you're too tired to focus, then nothing is being absorbed anyway."

She nodded. "I think I'll do that. Thanks, Baileywick." She smiled as he bowed before heading back down the hallway. She yawned and opened the door to her room. Her eyes fell on her bed, which looked really warm and inviting.

Sighing happily, the princess shut her door and ran to her bed, diving into her covers as she willed herself back to sleep.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle, a certain blonde prince had done some "sleepwalking" of his own and confiscated all the super-double-chocolate-chip cookies from the counter. Some things were worth the risk.

The end

A/N: :D Hope y'all liked it! Yes, that was James at the end. :p I wouldn't put it past him to fake sleepwalking to get something he liked. Cookies, jiggly wiggly pudding, cannons… :P Who knows! Oh, by the way, for the time being, I won't be able to take any more requests/suggestions. I have plenty to work with for now, so I'm just letting you all know ahead of time. I do have a few previously requested stories that will be out within the next few weeks, though. Keep an eye out. It may be a little while, but things will slowly start reappearing at a normal pace soon! Thanks for the support as always. ~AquaTurquoise


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